


Drove Through Ghosts

by Loudst



Category: OFF (Game)
Genre: Gen, Illustrated, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-04
Updated: 2013-07-04
Packaged: 2017-12-17 16:52:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/869817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loudst/pseuds/Loudst
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They say apathy is the only thing stopping us from tearing each other apart.</p><p>I would agree.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drove Through Ghosts

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a dream I had, then transformed into a series of sketches, and now it is a written work.   
> Above all, I am most pleased with is in this written format. Words will always be the the gateway to my heart, because in the end they are all I ever had to begin with. These words, as they follow, may not be the best in your opinion. Or the most correct. But they are mine, and they are special.
> 
> Title derived from the song "Drove Through Ghosts To Get Here" by 65daysofstatic. Which I listened to on repeat while writing this. ;;
> 
> ... I regret adding the images, really. I took much care to be vague about Zacharie's appearance. u_u  
> I also just don't think they help the piece at all... but I worked moderately hard on them and I hate for things to go to waste.

**A** fter defeating Sugar in zone 0, The Batter returned to speak with Zacharie. Her dying words were for him, and The Batter had no reason to deny her. He could hardly imagine the look on the merchant’s face when he told him what had become of the woman. He had guessed they were lovers of a sort…

He supposed he was right about that.

Zacharie was quiet for some time before his cheerful demeanor dropped completely, uttering a quiet, “Perhaps that was for the best,” and dropping his backpack unceremoniously beside him, sighing and running a hand through his hair. The Batter’s eyes narrowed as he watched the man’s movements carefully. This was abnormal… Alpha, Omega, and Epsilon whispered to him; _‘_ _he is upset, my king._ _’_ _‘_ _you may have crossed a line._ _’_ _‘_ _a true tragedy_ _…’_

Zacharie pulled a bat from his bag, one The Batter had never seen before, and held it out before him, hand wrapped firmly around the barrel; almost as if in offering to The Batter. The masked man stared at the Savior, expression ever mysterious, but eyes all too telling of a deep and permanent pain... He lowered the bat to his side, letting out a shaky breath as his gaze drifted downward. His free hand clenched into a fist, and his entire body seemed to be resisting the urge to move, to do something other than stand there staring at nothing. He was like a tightly coiled spring… The Batter tensed and his add-on’s pulled into a tight formation behind him. When Zacharie looked up at him he had changed completely. About him was an energy both familiar and distinctly different from what The Batter had come to expect. “It was not for you to decide,” He declared. His grip on the bat loosened until he held it by the handle.

 

“What do you plan on doing about it?” The Batter asked carefully.  
The merchant gripped the bat firmly in his hand, “Something foolish.” He said, smile audible in his voice.

 

There was a flash of light and a loud, booming sound; and, by the time The Batter regained his senses, the form before him had changed. He was the same as before, to be completely honest… save for the addition of two brilliant wings that floated behind him, not unlike The Batter’s own add-ons. The angelic nature of the wings offset The Batter’s view of the merchant greatly; and, if his puppeteer weren’t so preoccupied with their distress, maybe they’d have noticed as well.

 

“You don’t use a bat…” The Batter observed.  
Zacharie laughed, “No, I don’t.”

 

He held out his free hand, and a bright light collected there. Quickly, The Batter realized it to be taking shape. It was a sword; the merchant now held a sword in one hand and a bat in the other. He spun the bat around a few times, “Though, it would be rather uncouth to assume I cannot control the instruments I tout.”

“For example, this is the Ashley Bat. Made from superior alloy; very hard to come by,” He spun it again; “It has a higher drop than your current bat. That might seem unintuitive to some, what with less “kick” and all—but you and I, amigo? We know better, don’t we?” Another spin, “I’ve been holding onto it for a while, now.”

The Batter found it difficult to ignore his interest in the weapon; because he _did_ know better. His only qualm with his current bat was how slow it was… he could sacrifice a bit of power if it meant a faster swing— _shit he’s distracting me._

Zacharie capitalized on the momentary diversion, swooping in under his guard and pivoting, striking The Batter in the knee and forcing him to a kneeling position. He leveled his blade at the man’s neck. The Batter was stunned at his speed, doing nothing save for staring in awe as Alpha and Epsilon rushed to defend him, pushing the vendor away from their king with violent force.

Zacharie stood slowly, recovering from the add-on’s attacks. His wings were hovering and changing their orientation at random. One of them appeared to be injured—it took the hit for him, The Batter assumed. Were they like _his_ add-ons—like the Queen’s? The Batter was starting to realize just how little he knew of the merchant who claimed to be his friend.

“It’s pointless you know!” Said merchant chimed, “I was destined to win from the start! That’s how the story ends,” He gripped his sword tighter, holding it out in front of himself as if in declaration of something, “You’ve gone too far this time, my friend. This ends now.”

 

 

 

The Batter readied his weapon and charged at his enemy, eradicating his concept of this man who called him ‘friend’. This was not his ally—not anymore. _If you’re not with me, you’re against me._

He ran at the winged creature, tackling it to the ground and pinning it by the neck with his bat. One of its wings lashed out, cutting his face and side. The other swept him away with enough force to shatter bone. Omega hovered above his prone form, urging him to stand. As he struggled to his feet, the angelic being stood over him; readying an attack. He rolled to the side quickly, and the sword imbedded itself in a floor still warm from blood and heated breath. _Close…_

He took out Zacharie’s legs while he had the low ground, dealing him a similar blow to the one he had received earlier. The man fell to the ground. Epsilon and Omega saw the opportunity and hooked around his neck, pinning him firmly in place and buying their king time to recover. He stood slowly, testing out his legs and arms. Once he was properly on his feet, he turned to face the merchant; whose neck was now bruised and bloodied. Blood dripped from somewhere beneath the cover of his mask as he stared up at his approaching enemy.

The Batter stepped up to him and lined up his swing, ready to shatter the other’s skull. In the last few seconds, however, a feathered appendage impeded him. It blocked the full force of the swing and sent his weapon flying, clattering against the ground and rolling ever further away. The appendage twitched and darkened in colour before falling back to a passive position. He figured that meant dead… or as close to it as he could hope for. The other wing had already freed its master of his ghastly noose, badly damaging the two rings in the process. In the blink of an eye a blade sailed forth, straight through The Batter’s left flank. He bit back a cry, Epsilon told him to be strong. He grabbed the Ashley Bat from Zacharie’s hand and rammed it into his sternum, knocking him back and forcing the air from his lungs.

He wasted no time putting distance between himself and the Savior. His feet left the ground, wings carrying him into the air, above The Batter’s immediate reach. He needed to catch his breath. He needed to rethink his strategy. He needed the fucking bat out of The Batter’s hands. With his speed uninhibited, Zacharie had a feeling The Batter could easily hold his own.

He took in one more deep breath and then dove at his adversary, dodging Alpha and Omega to land squarely on The Batter’s chest feet first. His body slid a good few feet, skidding to a stop next to the Katsuhiro Bat. He stepped off the man’s torso, taking the Ashley from his still astonished hands and swinging it over his shoulder. “I can’t say I’m comfortable with you getting your hands on this, my divine confidant. A weapon so suited to your holy mission shouldn’t be tainted with the blood of the innocent.” He teased, floating back into the air as The Batter scrambled to grab the Katsuhiro.

Alpha circled around its master, insisting that he not lose his temper. It shot forth so fast it seemed to be everywhere at once; it impacted with the Ashley so hard the metal rang out a haunting melody. Zacharie yelped and dropped the instrument, now bent completely out of shape and useless. He nearly abandoned his sword to grab his opposite arm, swearing something must have been broken for it to hurt _so damn bad_.

“You forgot about the recoil, Zacharie.” The Batter said plainly, stalking towards the merchant. He was upset that the weapon had to be destroyed, but the playing field needed to be leveled. He nodded to Alpha, who had taken some serious damage from the impact as well.

“That I did…” Zacharie laughed dryly, he barely had time to finish before The Batter grabbed his ankle and jerked him downwards. He kicked repeatedly in protest, catching The Batter in the face more than once. The Trinity encircled him in another snare, and he struggled to escape; his remaining active add-on struck out, incensed. Suddenly a flash of light erupted from within the rings themselves and they began to break apart. Multiple, important, impacts… Zacharie utilized his freedom from the snare to break free of The Batter’s grasp as well, pivoting on his axis till his feet were above his head, “See, this is how you could move without all those strings, mon ami…” He said, clicking his tongue. A bat whistled towards his face, he blocked it effortlessly with his sword, and both combatants were surprised as they watched the instrument shatter.

 

 

  
 

 

“Well this is embarrassing all around, isn’t it…”

Zacharie laughed casually, as he had many times before… the words resounded with a heavy sort of nostalgia that seemed almost out of place. _Look at how much has changed in so little time, my friend…_

 

The Batter cracked a sad smile for a second, but just as quickly, he grabbed a shard of his shattered weapon and stabbed it into the brilliant plumage of Zacharie’s remaining wing. It let out a screeching noise as it lost its brilliant shine. Zacharie could feel gravity creeping in on him; it was only a matter of time before the wings could not even support his weight. He… he felt scared. He was going to lose.

Oh fuck… he was going to die. He didn’t—he didn’t plan on losing, he didn’t want to die…! He gripped his sword tightly and charged at The Batter. His movement had no style, no charisma. He was in a panic, blind with fear. The Batter plucked him out of the air with ease this time, slamming him against the ground and readying his wea—oh that’s right. It was broken. How the fuck did he forget that?

Without missing a beat, he instead slammed the knob of the handle into the merchant’s face, shattering his mask and imbedding shards of hard plastic in the newly exposed flesh. The Elsens would be mortified.

 

Zacharie was mortified.

 

He stared up at The Batter for a good few seconds, aghast. Exposed... embarrassed and sad. It was a lot to take in from a purely emotional standpoint, let alone an aesthetic one.

His left wing began to fizzle and melt away, forming streaks of delicate black smoke that danced in the air as they left him behind. _I don’t want to die…_

He pushed himself up, onto his feet, into the air as high as the failing appendages could take him—as far from The Batter as he could get. _No no no… please I don’t want to die…_

Then, he rushed towards him, weapon raised. He was scared, and everything hurt so bad… and The Batter looked completely undeterred by his injuries. It seemed so hopeless, so futile. _You really were my friend… Why did you have to kill her?_

The Batter caught him by the throat. Everything stopped. He dropped his sword, he dropped his guard, he felt himself giving up… “Please monsieur Batteur I don’t want to die!” He choked, his rasping voice slowly turning to a desperate scream, “I’m scared! Please…! I… I don’t want…” His voice burned out, just as the rest of him was beginning to. Smoke billowed from his lips and tears stung his eyes.

 

“Please—”

“Look at yourself, Zacharie.”

 

 

 

Tired eyes stared up at the corrupted soul, _‘I had hope for you,’_ they lamented.

 

The Batter lowered the merchant to the ground; he did not stand. He collapsed at The Batter’s feet. Smoldering like a dying fire and shaking like a leaf, he cocked his head back to look at his Savior, “I’m already dying, aren’t I?”

The Batter kneeled down, putting a hand on his back and rubbing circles into it. _Yes, son… you are._

“Perhaps this, too, is for the best…”


End file.
